Louveteau
Beluga
Adopted by the city of Montreal
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ID number
DL0059
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Sex
Male
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Year of birth
Before 1976
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Known Since
1992
Distinctive traits
Louveteau can be recognized by the scars around his dorsal crest and the notches it contains. The largest notch, in the middle of the crest, appeared in 1999.
Life history
The first time Louveteau was photographed, in 1992, he was already white. He was then at least 12 to 16 years old.
Louveteau’s observations indicate that he does not frequent the Saguenay Fjord. Three networks of males are known: two use the Saguenay Fjord and the head of the Laurentian Channel, and another, the “Downstream boys”, also use the head of the channel and the downstream portion of the estuary, but avoid the Saguenay River.
A new notch appeared on Louveteau’s dorsal crest in 1999. How does a mark become a means of recognition? It has to be permanent. The scratches on the beluga’s skin are superficial and will disappear. They are caused by contact with the water bottom, objects or other belugas. Occasionally, incidental marks (collision, entanglement, etc.) also leave their mark, adding to the whales’ “face” and the researchers’ headache.
Observations history in the Estuary
Years in which the animal was not observed Years in which the animal was observed
Latest news
We’re upstream from the Alouettes flats. This is where we discover Louveteau in a herd of a dozen animals, adults and juveniles. Contact with this group was short-lived, lasting less than an hour, as sea conditions were difficult. We lost sight of the group in mid-afternoon, when the waves were almost a metre high.
Sponsor
The city of Montréal adopted Louveteau (1989), Splash (2014) and is participating in the solidary adoptions of Neige, Nics, Solidaire, Bilou and Cica with other riverside municipalities of the St. Lawrence (2014).
Click on the name below to discover texts, drawings and videos composed by children of participating schools on Facebook.
Splash was named by the school day care services of the École Saint-Jude in Châteauguay as part of the Our Beluga’s Name is… contest.